The Rochester Americans may very well have faced a make-or-break point in their American Hockey League season back in late February.

On Feb. 17 they defeated the Lake Erie Monsters 6-2 in downtown Rochester, then went to Cleveland to play the Monsters the next night. They lost 3-1.

Then they came home to play Hamilton the next night. They opened a 2-0 lead and were then blow out of their own rink, losing 7-3.

Up next: a home game against the explosive Hershey Bears, a team that amassed 53 shots on them back on Jan. 8 (a 4-3 shootout loss).

It was a time for the Amerks to fold or regroup and battle back.

“We had a players’ only meeting called by (captain) Colin Stuart and he really hammered home what makes this team go,” winger Derek Whitmore said after tonight’s 3-1 victory over the Binghamton Senators. “It comes down to attitude and paying attention to details.”

Since that dreadful weekend and then meeting, the Amerks are 6-1 and have outscored opponents 22-13. That’s why they’re right in the thick of a very tight playoff race.

With Peoria still playing at Abbotsford when this blog was posted, the Amerks sat in a three-way tie for seventh in the Western Conference at 67 points. They are three points from fourth. Of course, they’re also three points from 11th.

Can they even worry about scoreboard watching with 16 games to play? Yes, to a degree.

“You kind of do but you also can’t worry too much about it,” Whitmore said. “It’s crazy; I’ve never seen it this close. You have a good weekend and you could be fourth or fifth. You have a bad weekend and you’re 11th or 12th.”

The Amerks are in a strange stretch of their schedule: seven straight games against just two opponents, Binghamton and Syracuse. And then the eighth game is against another Eastern Conference foe, the Albany Devils.

During the hot streak, and well beyond, goalie David Leggio has been giving the Amerks big saves. He did so again tonight. The B-Sens outshot the Amerks 36-29 but Leggio came up with key saves when necessary.

The only Binghamton goal came on a Craig Schira floater from the left point that sailed past a screened Leggio. It looked as though it may have it something; then again, it may not have.

While he needed to make big saves, he said the team played well in front of him, that guys were in such good position so many times that they didn’t need to block a shot because the B-Sens didn’t even bother shooting. “We forced a lot of no-shots,” Leggio said.

Said coach Ron Rolston: “He makes up for mistakes we make. Anytime you have a goaltender that’s hot and making up for mistakes, guys really enjoy having him back there.”

* * * * * * *

In a Nov. 11 game here against Binghamton, B-Sens defenseman Tim Conboy delivered a vicious open-ice check that left Amerks center with a concussion. They were teammates last season in Portland, by the way.

Tonight Turnbull and Conboy were pawing, shoving and yapping at each other just before the first period ended. Turnbull said Conboy tried to gouge at his left eye. Needless to say, there’s some hatred there.

Then a few seconds after the final horn, Conboy took a slap shot from center ice that flew into the Amerks net and stunned Leggio. He wasn’t looking; he wasn’t expecting a puck and certainly not one at 80 mph.

Referee Darcy Burchell assessed no penalty, though you’d think the league would want documentation of stupidity in case it happens again.

Rolston said he didn’t see it but also made it quite clear he’s not crazy about Conboy’s antics. “Live by the sword, die by the sword.”

* * * * * * *

Tomorrow’s story in the print and online editions of the Democrat and Chronicle centers on Luke Adam, who played a very strong game tonight. The winning goal and a team-high five shots on goal.

His goal was just his second in 11 games as an Amerk. That’s after going 20 without a goal in Buffalo, which eventually led to his reassignment to Rochester.

“Luke’s a great player, a world-class player; I saw him put almost 30 on the board last year in Portland (29-33-62 in 57 games to win AHL Rookie of the Year honors),” Whitmore said.

Said Adam of finally scoring (his weak backhander hit the stick of defenseman Patrick Wiercioch and it slipped between the legs of goalie Robin Lehner: “It was definitely a relief to see it cross the line.”

* * * * * * *

B-Sens right winger Andre Petersson is a very fun player to watch. He has 17-19-36 in 47 games. He assisted on Schira’s goal tonight and had a game-high 8 shots on Leggio.

Knapp, a senior at Miami-Ohio, grew up just south of Rochester in York and attended McQuaid for three years (eighth through 10th grade). He leads NCAA Division I with a 1.53 goals-against average.

The Buffalo Sabres were intrigued by Knapp long ago. They drafted him on the sixth round (164th overall) in 2009, following his freshman season at Miami.

“When you’ve got a guy 6-5, you’re intrigued by the size and we’re still intrigued by him as a player,” said Jon Christiano, director of pro scouting for the Sabres who also sees plenty of college hockey.

Soon it will be decision time for the Sabres. Knapp will be turning pro and the Sabres own his rights. They’ll need a goalie in Rochester next season.

It’s safe to assume the Sabres will want David Leggio back, based on his play this season with the Rochester Americans. They probably won’t want to re-sign Drew MacIntyre, at least not at the same $200,000 salary they’re paying him this year. The return on investment simply isn’t there.

Knapp very likely will be given a chance to be an Amerk, or at least be the fifth goalie on the organizational depth chart.

What’s always difficult to judge with a collegiate goalie is how much of the statistics are based on talent and how much is based on the team’s system and style of play.

When a forward scores 40 goals in college, there’s nothing fluky about it. They’re going to succeed in pro hockey. But a goalie with a great GAA sometimes doesn’t mean anything.

There are 20 goalies in NCAA Division I hockey with a GAA under 2.22. There are seven who are under 2.00. In some systems, the goalie must just stop the first shot and no opponent ever gets near a rebound.

“Sometimes every guy in college has a 2.0 GAA,” Christiano said about the college game as a whole. “In the pro game it’s not only blocking the first shot but you need rebound control.”

To succeed as a pro, a goalie must be strong at “the mental part, the reading-the-play part, the technical side,” Christiano said.

Making the Sabres’ decision a little tougher come contract time is Knapp’s body of work. He has never been Miami’s No. 1 goalie until the past month or so. For all four seasons, he has essentially rotated with Cody Reichard (undrafted).

It was great that Knapp got plenty of playing time as a freshman and sophomore. Sometimes underclassmen sit and watch all year. But Knapp hasn’t had the workload as a junior and senior that most No. 1′s would have. He has played in 80 career games at Miami (23, 20, 17, 20, by year). By comparison, Shane Madolora has played 55 games the past two seasons at RIT.

“If he played twice as many games or for the last 2, 2 1/2 years he was ‘the man,’ that experience and playing in pressure situations, you can’t throw that out the window,” Christiano said. “But the longer he goes (in the playoffs), the more of an up-close-and-personal look we get at him.”

One thing the Sabres really like about Knapp is his poise and demeanor. “The world might be coming to an end and he’s just doing his thing out there,” Christiano said.

The Rochester Americans clear-day roster looks just like their roster from last month and the month before that.

In other words, the Buffalo Sabres were unable to do anything to improve their American Hockey League team for the Calder Cup playoff push. Thus, what you have seen is what you’ll continue to see.

Well, for the most part. Defenseman Drew Schiestel was loaned to the Texas Stars. The Stars sent nothing back to the Amerks in return.

That’s not to say the Sabres didn’t try to find the Amerks a skilled forward; they did, but only by holding true to their Regier-era mode of operation.

Amerks coach Ron Rolston was hoping to get help at forward and the Sabres tried to fulfill the request. They notified all teams last Friday that they were willing to loan out a defenseman in exchange for a forward.

For the most part, teams weren’t offering what the Amerks needed, said Kevin Devine, who oversees hockey operations in Rochester for the Sabres. “The players weren’t as good as the players we’ve got,” he said.

“We got responses from about four teams,” Devine said. That led to a tentative deal being reached to loan a D-man for a forward. “But they pulled out Monday morning,” Devine said of the other team, which he declined to identity.

By that point, there wasn’t much that could be done, he said.

Is anyone shocked? What did they expect? When you wait until the last moment, the player racks have already been picked over.

Shoppers don’t mosey into a store at 4 p.m. on Black Friday. They line up the night before and aggressively strike the moment the doors open. They have no interest in blemished or junk merchandise.

Most AHL teams looking to make serious improvements for the stretch drive and playoffs already had made their moves — or at least began their search — long before last weekend. Privately owned AHL teams like the Hershey Bears and Chicago Wolves are always active as the clear-day freeze approaches. Most who value winning have their own hockey-department personnel.

But even the NHL teams that own their AHL affiliate have a person who devotes a large percentage of his time to the minor-league team. That’s how the Peoria Rivermen (St. Louis Blues) and Portland Pirates (Phoenix Coyotes) pulled off a swap of All-Star caliber players (Patrick O’Sullivan for Brett Sterling). That’s why the Florida Panthers consistently made moves for the San Antonio Rampage all season (acquiring Jon Matsumoto and Sean Sullivan in separate deals in January). Yes, the Panthers.

The Sabres don’t do business that way. In Darcy Regier’s hockey department, there is no one whose primary duty is monitoring and overseeing the Amerks. Kevin Devine has to tend to everything in Rochester, but he’s also the Sabres’ director of amateur scouting. It can’t be possible to do both.

Scouting is the lifeblood for every NHL team. The guy in charge must get to know every prospect in North America and Europe, so how can he also know which right winger on another AHL team is available, and then also know all the intangibles about that player?

Rolston didn’t want just anyone entering his dressing room from another organization. “Chemistry, how they’re going to fit in the room, that’s a big thing for me,” Rolston said. “I think we’ve got a really good room.”

When an AHL team has someone watching the AHL all the time and spending vast amounts of time in the AHL and at AHL games, then they get to know every player in the league. When an offer is made on Monday morning, they can say, “I’ll take him” or “pass” without needing to do hours of research.

And then there’s the Michael Ryan situation. He got hurt in Game 3 and didn’t play again until February. When he did come back, he made it through all of five games.

At that point, it was very clear he couldn’t be counted on to ever play again. He might play; he probably won’t. But did the Sabres attempt to find a replacement? Of course not.

Players could have been found. It might have cost some money, but we were all told last year that money wasn’t going to be an issue anymore, that there’s no salary cap on player development in the University of Sabres. We all also know that a long playoff run does wonders for player development.

Which brings us to Jody Gage. No one associated with the Amerks could understand why the Sabres didn’t hire him to fill a hockey role when they bought the franchise in June. It makes even less sense now. Even if it wasn’t Gage, they should have put someone in the hockey operations role for the Amerks.

Gage just makes perfect sense. He played in the AHL from 1979-80 through 1995-96. Ever since retirement, he has worked in the Amerks front office as the general manager or head of hockey operations. But instead of relying on his AHL expertise, the Sabres want him out shaking hands and spreading goodwill.

You know what real goodwill would be: Winning a Calder Cup, or at least making a run past the first round of the playoffs.

The Sabres did a great thing when they slashed season-ticket prices to $10 per game. A full season ticket for $380 is downright cheap. As it turns out, so is talk.

* * * * * * *

Loaning Schiestel was a chance to give him playing time. The third-year defenseman was, at best, No. 8 on the Amerk depth chart and probably wouldn’t have played again unless their were injuries.

That’s quite the fall from grace.

“If you would have asked our people last year, he would have been the top defensive prospect,” Devine said.

Since then, however, two serious knee injuries stunted his progress. The first came in late January of 2011. He needed the rest of the season to recover. Then on opening night this season he was hurt again. His play regressed as a result.

“He never did really find his game after that,” Devine said. “We certainly haven’t given up on Drew as a prospect. But we do have decisions to make this summer on defensemen. This will give Drew a chance to play and hopefully he can find his game and make our decision easy this summer.”

Schiestel, Alex Biega, T.J. Brennan and Dennis Persson all become restricted free agents on July 1. The Sabres must decide whether to tender qualifying offers, and thus maintain their rights, or cut them loose.

The Sabres placed on stipulation on the Schiestel loan: he must play. “We didn’t want someone bringing him just to be an insurance policy,” Devine said. “He had to play and he had to be on their clear-day roster.”

Devine said eight teams were interested in Schiestel, six of which were in the Western Conference. “We didn’t want to move him to any teams that are in a dogfight with Rochester,” he said.

* * * * * * *

On the injury front, RW Jacob Lagace is day-to-day with a sprained wrist. Between questionable and probable for the two games this weekend against Bingahmton.

As for LW Igor Gongalsky, he’s somewhere between doubtful and questionable. “More likely the next weekend,” Rolston said. “If he can play, he’ll play, and he’s out there he’ll play the way he always plays.”

In case you check out this blog but not our entire website (shame on you), here’s a link to our story today that looks back to a Jan. 5, 1990, game between the Rochester Americans and Springfield Indians.

Rob Ray’s actions in a game five days earlier enraged Springfield coach Jimmy Roberts. So in the rematch the following weekend, rumors flew that Roberts offered cash to whichever one of his players put Ray in his place.

From an artistic standpoint, the Rochester Americans can’t really like their game tonight.

Turnovers aplenty for two periods, missed passes, failed blocks of passes and shots, zigging when they had to zag.

But they probably don’t care right now. Not even the coaching staff.

The Amerks withstood a difficult weekend from a travel and fatigue standpoint to grit out a 3-2 shootout victory over the Toronto Marlies in downtown Rochester.

They Amerks started the weekend with a very disappointing 4-3 loss at Grand Rapids on Friday. They were up 3-1 and managed to lose, which is unlike them. Going into Friday, they were 16-0-1 when taking a lead into the third period.

They rebounded to win Saturday night in Toronto, 2-1, then came home to defeat the Marlies again.

After a scoreless first period — goalie David Leggio gets the credit for that — the Marlies finally scored twice in the second. Philippe Dupuis got credit for the first goal at 3:13 when Alex Biega attempted to sweep a puck out of the crease but ended up banking it in off Leggio’s butt. Nazem Kadri then made it 2-0 at 13:19.

The Amerks didn’t fold. They didn’t even sag.

“There’s no quit in here, I think you guys have seen that all year,” center Mark Voakes said. “We keep fighting no matter what.”

A Nicolas Deschamps slashing penalty at 19:45 of the second period helped greatly. The Amerks worked the puck perfectly to set up a one-timer by T.J. Brennan from the top of the right circle. Goalie Jussi Rynnas had no chance and the Amerks were within 2-1 with 5.4 seconds left in the second.

“I think that sort of lit a fire under our butt,” Voakes said.

Voakes tied the score at 7:38 of the third period, somehow getting his stick free in the deep slot to one-time Travis Turnbull’s pass high into the net.

Max Legault deserves much credit too because his work in the corner — and hard pass that got through defenseman Korbinian Holzer on the end boards to Turnbull behind the net — made the goal possible.

“I guess it’s how you draw it up,” Voakes said. He said Turnbull made the perfect pass “and I tried to get some wood on it, or composite.”

* * * * * * *

Leggio was a perfect 5-for-5 in the shootout. He made two stretched-beyond-the-limits stops with his right leg on Kadri and Joe Colborne. Both moves looked as though they would produce goals. Both times Leggio somehow got his leg across to the post.

“Years of stretching, occasional yoga, good trainers,” Leggio said.

Leggio is 5-1 in shootouts. He leads the AHL in shootout wins and has stopped 18 of 20 shots in the past two shootouts. That includes 13 of 15 against Lake Erie on Feb. 25, the second-longest shootout in AHL history.

He wasn’t all that pleased with his work that night, though. “Actually I didn’t lilke how I played,” he said. “I felt like I was really sloppy and got lucky a number of times.”

He said he worked with goalie coach Bob Janosz over the past week to get better at maintaining the proper spacing and simply reading and then reacting.

“He’s been light’s-out,” Amerks rookie center Phil Varone said.

He had to love his work Sunday. “To shut out all those good shooters in the shootout was a statement,” Amerks coach Ron Rolston said.

* * * * * * *

Varone scored the Amerks only goal in the shootout, on shot No. 3. He’s now 2-for-2. He wasn’t used in the first six shootouts.

The move was golden. He sells shot — really sells it, he says — and then goes quickly to the 5-hole with a backhander.

He says older brother Rick, 29, taught him the move years ago. Rick Varone played four years of NCAA hockey, two at Robert Morris and then two at Oswego State. “He was a phenomenal player growing up,” Phil said.

We’ve all seen guys in the NHL and AHL lift the skate and try to get goalies to bite on that move, thinking a shot is coming. Varone said his move is exztremely effective against goalies that are moving or “active” as the shooter attacks.

He watched the first two shooters, Paul Szczechura and Luke Adam, and saw Rynnas had the tendency to be active. “I kind of read that stuff,” he said. “He wasn’t very calm. If it’s a calm goalie, you have to just react to what’s there.”

* * * * * * *

Leggio played all three games on the weekend. That’s despite the bus trip to Grand Rapids, from Grand Rapids to Toronto for Saturday’s game, and then from Toronto home on Saturday night.

“Actually I felt really good physically,” Leggio said. He was very blunt in saying there’s no way he would have told the coaches he could play if he thought he could hurt the team.

He said he played three-in-three a “decent amount” in the ECHL three years ago.

“It’s hard in one sense but not in another sense,” he said.

In the first period Leggio was hit by a shot on the mask by his ear. He was in definite discomfort and pain and tried to let referee Dave Lewis know he was hurting. He was yelling during the play — from the press box I could hear him — but Lewis never blew the whistle.

After the game he said the scenario is difficult for the referee and the goalie. Is the goalie really hurt? Should the goalie drop to the ice and abandon all worries about the puck with the hope that the referee stops play?

* * * * * * *

Amerks center Luke Adam is still struggling to produce offense, at least consistently.

Right now it’s very clear he is pressing and that he wants to do a lot. But the more he tries, and the more players he tries to skate past or around, the more times he turns the puck over.

It’s obviously very difficult for him. In November he was the center for Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville and third in scoring for the Buffalo Sabres. But give him credit for caring about the team.

Lewis and Francis Charron, as well as linesmen Fraser McIntyre and Derek Sylvester, didn’t see Szczechura get hit in the jaw by a high stick in the deep slot during the second period. Play went the other way when Szczechura then couldn’t thwart a breakout, and Kadri scored.

“No one saw it,” Rolston said. “No one saw a guy get stuck in the face.”

* * * * * * *

Amerks winger Igor Gongalsky couldn’t play. He was struck by the high stick of Carter Ashton on Saturday. Rolston said there aren’t broken bones but he’s out for a bit. He’s questionable for the coming weekend.

Now that the NHL trade deadline has passed, the Buffalo Sabres hockey department will turn its sights on the Rochester Americans to see if improvements can be made to the American Hockey League roster.

The Amerks — and all AHL teams — must submit clear-day rosters by 3 p.m. on Monday.

The first step toward making a move or moves comes today when the braintrust conducts a conference call. Amerks coach Ron Rolston will join Sabres general manager Darcy Regier, director of amateur scouting Kevin Devine, and assistant to the general manager Mark Jakubowski.

While Regier has the final say on all matters hockey within the organization, Devine oversees operations in Rochester. (Yes, he needs an amendment to his job title; his duties span well beyond just amateur scouting.)

Devine said this afternoon that a couple teams have phoned, wondering if the Amerks/Sabres may be looking to make any moves.

He said yes, and probably most definitely, but not until the needs are discussed on Friday.

“We want to find out exactly what Ron is thinking,” Devine said. “What we do will have a lot to do with what Ron has to say and then if something can be done.”

The urgency of the NHL trade deadline had the Sabres hockey department pre-occupied; their time also wasn’t wasted, with a first-round draft pick obtained for Paul Gaustad and a big-time center scooped up from Vancouver in exchange for rookie winger Zack Kassian.

I don’t foresee any blockbuster moves to that degree for the Amerks. But the Sabres know the Amerks don’t have much scoring depth up front. To make a serious charge down the stretch and earn a playoff berth, they need help. Luke Adam’s reassignment to the Amerks last month was a big step in that direction. But they could still use another forward with real hands, especially since Kassian is gone.

Devine said the Sabres did put a claim in on hard-nosed winger Brad Staubitz, who was waived by the Minnesota Wild. The Montreal Canadiens (and maybe other teams) also claimed Staubitz and since the Canadiens are farther down in the standings, the player was awarded to Montreal. Staubitz would have provided an element of toughness that the Sabres lost by trading Gaustad and Kassian.

Because the Sabres didn’t win the claim, they were forced to recall right winger Corey Tropp on Monday afternoon, just hours after he had been returned to the Amerks.

The Sabres have an abundance of defensemen — 10 — on the development roster. Rookies Corey Fienhage and Matt MacKenzie were just sent from the Amerks to Gwinnett of the ECHL this week so they still have eight defensemen. That’s the one area of strength from which they can deal.

Since the NHL trade deadline has passed, moving players on two-way NHL contracts can only be done by loan, and all loans must be finalized before 3 p.m. on Monday.

One unwritten organizational rule the Sabres probably will continue to follow: not to loan a player who is under contract for next season. “If he’s back with your team the next year, it’s kind of an awkward situation,” Devine said.

Of the defensemen, four will be restricted free agents next season (meaning their entry level deals expire after this season): T.J. Brennan, Drew Schiestel, Alex Biega and Dennis Persson.

There would very likely be interest from other AHL teams on all four. Brennan obviously isn’t going anywhere. I can see any of the other three being moved if a scoring forward — or mean power forward — could be obtained.

About Kevin

Kevin Oklobzija has been covering the Rochester Americans and the American Hockey League, as well as the Buffalo Sabres and the NHL, since the puck dropped on the 1985-86 pro hockey season. He has covered the Calder Cup and Stanley Cup playoffs, as well as hockey at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Salt Lake City and Turin, Italy. Hockey's O-Zone will provide news and views on the sport. If you have a comment, Email Kevin, and we'll even make it easy for you -- you don't even need to spell his last name: kevino@democratandchronicle.com.